RE: Information Systems Annex was RE: Dispatching and generics - language lawyer question

["Robert C. Leif" <rleif@rleif.com>]

From: Bob Leif
To: Keith Thompson et al.

Since virtually all of these decimal types will be intermediates in a
calculation, they could all have the same number of digits. The delta is
the problem. My crude workaround was to turn a non-static number into a
static number by either a pragma or a method. However, I would be happy
with a decimal floating type.  

-----Original Message-----
From: comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org
[mailto:comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org] On Behalf Of Keith Thompson
Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 1:53 AM
To: comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org
Subject: Re: Information Systems Annex was RE: Dispatching and generics
- language lawyer question

"Robert C. Leif" <rleif@rleif.com> writes:
> From: Bob Leif
> To: Keith Thompson et al.
> I would be happy with a decimal floating-point; but, would gladly
settle
> for a less elegant work-around. 
> 
> Since I have never worked with binary fixed-point types, please
forgive
> a naive question. Would the same capacity to create types with
exponents
> at run-time be of any use or is this equivalent to floating-point?

I don't understand what kind of less elegant workaround you have in
mind.  I understand (I think) that you want an exponent value (or,
nearly equivalently, the position of the decimal point) to be
determined at run time.  If you want it to vary for each object, I
think you're talking about floating-point.  If you just want a
non-static but constant value determined when the type is created,
that's something else.

Here's an example from the RM:

    type Money is delta 0.01 digits 15;

The delta and digits values must both be static expressions.  Are you
saying you want one or both of them to be non-static?

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) kst@cts.com
<http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
San Diego Supercomputer Center           <*>  <http://www.sdsc.edu/~kst>
Schroedinger does Shakespeare: "To be *and* not to be"